2sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.

3tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.

4sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.

5sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.

6sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.

7sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.

8sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.

9sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.

10sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.

11sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.

12sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.

13sn Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.

14sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.

15sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.

16sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.

17sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.

18sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.

19tc Most of the MT mss read “Dodanim” here, but 1 Chr 1:7 has “Rodanim,” perhaps referring to the island of Rhodes. But the Qere reading in 1 Chr 1:7 suggests “Dodanim.” Dodona is one of the most ancient and revered spots in ancient Greece.

20sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).

21sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.

22sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.

23sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).

24sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.

25sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.

26sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.

27sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.

28sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.

29sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.

30sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.

31tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.

32tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).

33tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the Lord [YHWH]”), as a means of expressing the superlative degree. In this case one may translate “Nimrod was the greatest hunter in the world.”

34tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.

35tn Or “Babylon.”

36sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.

37sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.

38tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).

39sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.

40tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.

41tn Heb “Asshur.”

42sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.

43sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.

44sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.

45tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”

46sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).

47tn Heb “fathered.”

48sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.

49sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.

50sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.

51sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).

52sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.

53sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.

54tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.

55sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.

56tn Heb “fathered.”

57sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.

58tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.

59sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.

60sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.

61sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).

62sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.

63sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.

64sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.

65sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.

66sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.

67sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.

68tn Heb “were.”

69map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

70tn Heb “as you go.”

71tn Heb “as you go.”

72tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”

73tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.

74sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.

75sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.

76sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.

77sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.

78sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.

79tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”

sn Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Little is known about these descendants of Aram.

80tn Heb “fathered.”

81tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.

82sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).

83tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.

84tn Heb “fathered.”

85sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.

86sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.

87sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.

88sn The name Jerah means “moon.”

89sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.

90sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”

91sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.

92sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”

93sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.

94sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).

95sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.

96tn Heb “as you go.”

97tn Or “separated.”